Epa May Okay Use Of Bacteria To Halt Frost

WASHINGTON — Within two weeks, a California biotechnology company is expected to win federal approval to release into the environment for the first time a genetically altered, living organism.

The decision, which would be a turning point for the infant biotech industry, comes after two years of opposition from environmentalists who fear that, once out of the labs, genetically altered organisms may multiply out of control and cause ecological damage.

Steven Schatzow, director of pesticide programs for the Environmental Protection Agency, said the odds are high that the agency will grant its first approval of such a test in two weeks.

Advanced Genetic Sciences Inc., of Oakland, is seeking EPA permission to spray a plot of strawberries with two strains of live bacteria whose genes have been altered to prevent frost.

The biotech industry hopes the EPA decision will clear the way for using gene-splicing to produce disease-resistant crops, microbes to eat oil spills, new pesticides and other products with a market potential in the billions of dollars.

Schatzow said EPA expects a court challenge and is laying the groundwork to prevail.

The Advanced Genetic Sciences experiment is like one approved by the National Institutes of Health in 1983. However, that experiment, designed by Stephen Lindow, a plant pathologist at the University of California at Berkeley, was blocked in federal court after it was challenged by environmental activists. They questioned the agency's evaluation of the risks involved.